Striker Collins believes Cobblers have right ingredients for promotion

James Heneghan

Striker James Collins has likened the current Cobblers team to last year’s promotion-winning Shrewsbury side.

Collins knows all about what it takes to win promotion after top scoring for the Shrews last season when they finished second in Sky Bet League Two, narrowly behind champions Burton Albion.

But following a difficult start to the current campaign, the 25-year-old joined Northampton on loan in January and is now intent on helping the Cobblers follow in Shrewsbury’s footsteps.

When asked if this current side reminds him of last season, Collins said: “To be honest, it’s very similar.

“We played a different way at Shrewsbury but we had good quality in attacking areas and we had a solid back three.

“This side reminds me a lot of that because we’ve got a good back four, a good goalkeeper and we’ve got some good midfielders with quality who want to battle and want to win the ball.

“And then we’ve got some great players going forward - four great wingers and three good strikers and that can only do us good in our promotion challenge.”

Collins came to Sixfields with a reputation for scoring goals and he hasn’t disappointed so far, netting four times in six appearances including two in Saturday’s 4-0 win at Leyton Orient.

“To come into a winning side and to fit right in and score goals and get wins on the board, I couldn’t have asked for it to go any better,” he added. “It’s always easier to score goals in a winning side and in a team full of confidence.

“When you’ve got attacking options that we’ve got, with the likes of Lawson D’Ath coming on off the bench and getting an assist for my second one, we’ve got quality all over the pitch and you can only benefit from that as a striker.”